July has been a funny old month; it has been a funny old year to be honest and July has seemed to be the month have gardened least in since I don't know when. It has been combination of very hot weather and also I have been away a bit - I know - shocking behaviour. I am sure I read somewhere that 'real' gardeners do not go away during the summer. Well my dear reader, I have never claimed to be a real gardener.
So where shall I start? I know, the hydrangea corner in the front garden. Just that odd corner that provides a hidden through-way for the cats to negotiate around the side fence. The hydrangea feels a bit like it is dancing the hokey-cokey: I planted it here, I dug it up and then planted it back again. It doesn't seem to have minded too much just yet. You can also see the Ballerina rose that was squidged into the dirt when the digger pummelled it. She is growing back so well.
The crocosmia which is now growing through the new front lawn is also thriving. I keep mowing and it keeps growing.
I get stopped in my tracks by this container of random petunias and Nicotiana. It has been flowering well for months now.
and the succulent and spikey table is back to full capacity. I have been buying these plants over the last few years and I fuss over them very much. Well I say I fuss over them; they have only just moved outside whereas I think they would have liked to be outside some weeks ago. So I spent a happy couple of hours potting some on, potting some pups on and generally telling them how much I love them.
A few are also on the slightly falling apart main table. The chillies are also on this table and they are fruiting up well.
The Mme Alfred Carriere rose is overwhelming the Whitby Arch, which has developed a rather alarming lean. I am going to give the Mme a hard prune so that I can fix the arch. It just needs its joints tightening (not a euphemism).
The hydrangeas in the Courtyard Garden are doing well as are the aspidistras.
This is my Aspidistra Asahai and she is my favourite. I love the colours her foliage move through.
The table in the courtyard has become a begonia table. There are various plants and cuttings currently taking up this space. There's hardly space for my mug of tea now! Is anyone surprised?
Oh and this is interesting, its a camellia seed pod on the Camellia rosthorniana. I wonder if the seeds would grow.....
The Wine Bench appears to have become a pelagonium bench. Not sure how that happened. One moment I had popped one there just until I found space for it and next time I looked it had gathered friends around it. Where will I drink my wine as I catch the last moments of the sun now?
This is
Britt, she is my very favourite pelagonium. Her name isn't Britt really, but that is what I call her.
The Wild Garden has had its mid year demi-cut. Not a proper mow, but more of a grass-height reduction to let in some light. I noticed just how big the Iford Cherry has become. This is now a fabulous tree and one of the highlights of my Spring garden.
Speaking of Spring, the Spring Border is quite green at the moment. Gary keeps a careful eye on proceedings. The Acer Orange Dream has slowly grown into rather a lovely tree and I think may need a bit of shaping soon. Just a careful trim, nothing drastic.
The Prairie Borders are a sea of echinops. The bees are delighted.
If you look carefully you can see a rather neat slit created in the Grassy Knoll. This is a wasp nest. I have had a nest in this knoll a couple of years ago which I carefully filled in once they had died off in the Winter. Now I am just carefully avoiding the area until the frost deals with them.
and the pond is overgrown, but does have some water in it - not much - but some.
Until then
Wow, that Rose on the arch is really impressive! All your plants look happy and healthy!
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